Weapon; Club

42.11.108

About this object

A taiaha (long club/fighting staff) with one end (the head) carved in the shape of a tongue with a human face on either side of the shaft below it, the other end is a smooth blade. A collar of feathers is bound to the shaft with fibre at the neck. The main design on the tongue is spirals with closed, elliptical centres, formed by haehae (parallel grooves) and ridges with pakati (dog's-tooth notches). The eyes are small and one is shell-inlaid.